RSSSuper Simple Circle Skirt
Read this article in our print magazine, CRAFT 06: Play, Page 117.
Subscribers—read this article now in your digital edition!Avoid the hassle of hems by using a vintage tablecloth to make a perfect skirt.
From the column DIY: Stitch It
by Erin McKean
Pockets, Embellishments, and Fit Adjustments
There are lots of things to love about sewing: the pleasure of choosing just the right fabric for just the right pattern, the feel of sharp scissors carving out the pattern pieces, the hiss of the hot iron pressing a perfect seam... but there are not-so-lovable parts, too. One of my least favorite parts of sewing is hemming, and I’m always looking for ways to make it easier or faster, or, if I’m lucky, to escape it entirely. One sure way to avoid hemming is to work with fabric that has been helpfully pre-hemmed by someone else — like a tablecloth.
Check out the DIY in the magazine, and here are a few extra tips and troubleshooting suggestions:
Pockets. If you want to put a pocket in your skirt (and, trust me, you do) go print out the pocket template here. If possible, put the long straight edge of the pocket template along the selvedge of your scrap piece. (The selvedge is the tightly woven edge of a piece of fabric.) This will help keep your pocket opening from stretching. Sew the right side of the pocket pieces to the right sides of the front and back of the skirt. Make sure to double-check that you're sewing the pocket on both the right side (printed side) of the skirt pieces and to the right-hand side — most pockets are on the right. If you're left-handed, switch it! Once you've sewn the pocket on, press the seam to the pocket side and then stitch again, close to the folded edge. This will help your pocket lie flat.
With the right sides of the skirt and pocket together, measure the pocket opening. Mark the opening 3-1/2" from the top, and 3" from the bottom. If you have bigger hands, make the opening bigger. Stitch the side seam, leaving open between the marks. Don't forget that we're using a 1" seam allowance! Once the side seam is sewn, stitch along the outside of the pocket. I also zigzag over the raw edges, to make doubly sure my pockets will hold what I put in them.
Embellish! If you're using a patterned holiday tablecloth covered in Santas, menorahs, or turkeys, you probably don't want to add much in the way of embellishment (or, if you do want to, you might want to lie down until the feeling passes). If you're using a $12 cotton tablecloth from Target, though, why not splurge on ribbon, rickrack, passementerie, buttons, appliqué, or beads?
Adjusting the waist. If you want the skirt to lie a bit flatter over your belly, or you're worried that your rear endowment might lift the back hem to a noticeable degree, you can make this adjustment. Instead of measuring a perfect circle for the waist opening, cut the tablecloth in half and measure and cut the waist markings on the 2 pieces separately, raising the center front waist measurement of the skirt 3/8", blending away to nothing on the side seams, and lowering the center back waist the same amount. This gives your rear a little wiggle room and will let that nicely hemmed skirt sit a little better, because the last thing you want to do is re-hem it!
Oh, no! My skirt is too big! If you cut the waist of your skirt too narrow, it's pretty easy to cut it a bit wider. (Hint: To make cutting a skinny bit off a curved edge easier, use your sewing machine to measure and mark. Stitch along your new cutting line and then cut along the stitches.) But what do you do if you've cut it too big, and your skirt is dangling from your hips? If you catch the problem before you attach the seam binding at the waist, you're in good shape: you can attach the seam binding as a casing and run elastic through it.
A few things to remember: cut the waist elastic 1" to 2" smaller than your waist measurement. It can stretch but it won't shrink! When attaching the seam binding, make sure you push the seam allowances of the skirt to one side, instead of spreading them flat. This way they won't catch your elastic as you push it through (if you push it through from the side the allowances are folded away from). If you don't have a bodkin (a tool for threading laces and elastics through casings) you can use a big safety pin. Pin it through one edge of the elastic (make sure it has a good grip!) and shove the hard pin through the casing with your fingers.
If you've already sewn the seam binding on (and you tried, but you can't push the elastic through it), you can always sew the elastic to the wrong side of the waistband. It's not as pretty, but it gets the job done. It's better to use sew-through elastic; with regular elastic the needle will cut some of the elastic threads and it won't be as stretchy. Make sure you know which parts of the elastic you're supposed to sew through and which you aren't — it will say on the package. Measure and cut your elastic, then fold it into quarters. Mark the quarters with your pencil. Then sew on the elastic, beginning at the open seam. Match the first mark to the middle of the front, the second mark to the side seam, the third to the middle of the back, stretching the elastic to make the marks line up. Don't forget to keep stretching all the way to the other open edge!
With either elastic trick, your skirt will be a bit bunchier at the waist... but it's better than having a non-bunchy skirt that doesn't fit. If elastic doesn't appeal to you, you can always draft a waistband to make up the difference between the top of the skirt and the place where your waist begins.
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- Circle skirt hems
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This takes me back to my mother, a costumer, who sewed circle skirts all her life. When she was young they were for herself and friends in the 1950's, and then often for various theater productions at different times.
A circle skirt will "drop" after a while of wearing, which will lead to an uneven and dippy hem. It's because of the weight pulling on the bias.
This may not matter to you. But if it does matter you can do what my mother did. Run a gathering stitch around the waistline, gather up the skirt and using several clothespins or safety pins (like Mum) hang the skirt from a wire coathanger for a week or two.
I remember skirts of every fabric - cottons, cords, chiffons, satins, prints, plains, ginghams - racked up hanging high from every door hinge in the house in various stages of dropping. When they were ready she would have the wearer, or her dressform, stand on a chair and turn while she measured up from the floor to make a perfectly even hem. She always used 1 inch bias tape as her hem facing.
I make circle skirts for my daughter to dance in of layers of tulle and organza - and I rarely worry about going through the hem dropping process. It's fun to use the little circle from the waist to make a circle skirt for a dolly. I serge the hems, but zig zag stitch works too.
Robyn L. CoburnPosted by dezignarob on January 27, 2008 at 13:21:51 Pacific Time
- Circle skirt hems
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Thanks so much for sharing your mother's wisdom about circle skirts. That's so awesome that she made so many of them. Do you have any of them or photos of them?Posted by golim on January 27, 2008 at 22:20:36 Pacific Time
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